Angela Eagle pulls out of Labour leadership contest

Ms Eagle won the respect of many in her party for sticking her head above the parapet and directly challenging Mr Corbyn following the vote of no confidence in his leadership.

However unofficial figures suggest that she was 18 nominations behind Owen Smith after Labour MPs spent the day chosing their prefered candidate.

She said: “I would like to thank my own supporters for the faith that they showed in me in this leadership election.

“We finished the first day of nominations. Owen Smith has a lead and I think it’s in the best interests of the Labour Party that we now come together so that we have one candidate.

“I am withdrawing from this race and supporting Owen. I would like to congratulate Owen for coming top in this race.

“We have a Labour Party at the moment that is not working. We have got a leader that doesn’t have the confidence of his members of Parliament.”

Welsh MP Mr Smith has said repeatedly that he would be prepared to stand aside if a unity candidate emerges, with Ms Eagle less forthcoming in agreeing to a similar strategy.

However this evening she said she would now throw her full support behind Mr Smith and asked for people to sign up as registered supporters to have a vote in the leadership election.

Asked if she had done a deal to run alongside Mr Smith, she responded by saying she would be in “lock-step” with his campaign.

Mr Smith now faces a number of hustings over the summer where he will go head to head with Mr Corbyn before members fill out their ballot papers.